COOKE COUNTY, Texas – A criminal defendant in Texas was found guilty of emotionally, physically, and sexually torturing children in inhumane ways. A jury quickly convicted the man, who then received more than 10 life sentences for his crimes.
Prosecutors said 38-year-old David Calhoun tortured several children similar to the manner in which prisoners of war and political captives were tortured during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The abuse was inflicted on several of his stepchildren and nephews who lived with him in a fifth-wheel trailer near Gainesville, Texas, FOX 4 News reported.
On Monday, jurors deliberated less than an hour before coming to a conclusion and convicting Calhoun on five counts of sexual assault of a child, seven counts of aggravated assault, and one count of assault strangulation, according to the Cook County District Attorney’s Office.
“The abuse increased until it reached its climax in the summer of 2022 in Cooke County, Texas,” the DA’s Office said. “At which time, the abuse was described by Pamela Miller, Senior Policy Analyst with the APSAC Center for Child Policy, as Intrafamilial Child Torture — which is almost indistinguishable from the type of torture that POWs and political prisoners suffered during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.”
The abuse took place between 2017 to 2022 as Calhoun became responsible for his nephews, court documents show.
The children’s maltreatment included being tied up for days, set on fire with gasoline, beaten with a metal pipe, stabbed with a kitchen knife and burned on the face and genitals almost daily with either a lighter or a cattle prod.
Calhoun also used a set of Channellock pliers to remove a teen’s fingernails and toenails, knocked out several teeth with brass knuckles and wrapped a hair tie around a boy’s testicles for 24 hours.
Upon conviction, punishment was soon doled out as jurors took about the same amount of time to determine Calhoun should receive 10 life sentences, a 10-year sentence and two 20-year sentences for the assortment of crimes, according to FOX.
“The prolonged period of torture that the defendant put the children through in this case is the worst abuse that I have ever seen,” Cooke County prosecutor Eric Erlandson said. “The mental, psychological, and physical torture that they endured for the better part of six years is unimaginable.”
“The resilience and strength that the children showed in this case is awe-inspiring. They never gave up and showed tremendous courage from the very beginning. The lasting legacy of this case is that evil will not prevail — even when things seemed hopeless the children were determined to make their story heard,” Erlandson added.
The case first came to the attention of law enforcement authorities when police found Calhoun’s 16-year-old nephew in a Nebraska hotel room with several unrelated adults. The teen told officers he left home to escape an extreme amount of physical and psychological abuse, while showing them scars across his body and providing an agonizing account of the torture, FOX 4 reported.
Calhoun’s wife, Ashley Calhoun, and another adult living in the trailer are also charged with various crimes related to the ongoing abuse. Their trials are scheduled for next month.
